'Frustrating' wash-out for Bears

NICK Knight spelt out his frustration as Warwickshire's bid to get their CricInfo County Championship promotion push back on track was dented by the weather against bottom-placed Derbyshire at Edgbaston....

NICK Knight spelt out his frustration as Warwickshire's bid to get their CricInfo County Championship promotion push back on track was dented by the weather against bottom-placed Derbyshire at Edgbaston.

The Bears are currently lying in fourth spot in Division Two and looking to end a run of four games without a win stretching back to early June.

But a torrential overnight downpour left the outfield saturated and play was inevitably abandoned for the opening day an hour before the scheduled start.

It was the only championship game in the country to suffer a complete wash-out today.

England batsman Knight said: "It is very frustrating when you cannot play. We have played some pretty good cricket recently and we have the opportunity to make it a really big season.

"It is so tight in the league that if you can put just two wins together you can really push ahead.

"We are in that position where we can push ahead but, if we don't win and other teams do, then we can also drop away.

"We are at that stage of the season where we need everyone to be fit and firing.

"We can win the Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy, get up from Division Two of the county championship and can do well in the National League. Being stuck indoors is frustrating.

"But there is nothing we can do about it and when we finally get out there we have got to make sure we play good cricket and try and force a win.

"We are pretty confident we can still do that in the time remaining in the game as long as we don't get another wash-out."